Friday, January 16, 2009

It might not be great...

Our media might not be all it's cracked up to be, but media as a whole is a lifeline for all of us. We can weigh the pro's and con's of the media, but are they really to blame or does that responsibility lie within ourselves? Too often we complain about the bias reporting of Fox news or the lack of Global awareness, but...do we ever think about how it is that we know that news is biased, or what Global issues don't receive proper time in coverage? My opinion is that we learn that through our own research through (you guessed it), the media. My point is, just because you hear it, doesn't mean you have to follow. I guess for myself, with that process of mentality, I don't care what is reported to me. If I plan to be an informed citizen or consumer, I should research for my self. We complain about what we don't know from the media, but yet we seldom attend city council or school district meetings. We seldom seek out information to be our own reporters. I guess I realize that there is a circle of life in the media world. The media provides bits of fact. We then search the media to find the "whole" truth. The rest of the truth tends to come from a bias resource that is on the other end of the first story. And behold the cycle continues. The media as we know it is far from a perfect product. The media does not exist in a vacuum, and therefore is suspect to different factors and elements. I definitely would be the last person to defend the media as wholesome and true, I just thought I'd point another side, devil's advocate if you will. I do believe the media is a watchdog, the problem is, that like any watchdog, they protect the house that owns him. The media is an endless tap, the problem is we tend to drink from the same faucet. Drink from another, you might like it better, or maybe it won't leave a bad taste in your mouth like the one you keep complaining about. Be informed, it's your responsibility, we can't trust them for everything.

1 comment:

I totally agree with you. It is our responsibility to inform ourselves, via the media. The problem, i believe, comes in assuming that the information we get is accurate and without bias. While some may be better than others, we must be aware of the fact that multiple interests play into what we end up viewing.